The invention relates to a method and an apparatus for mixing one or more chemical concentrates, especially concentrates of photographic processing fluids, with an amount of thinning fluid, especially water, such as will impart a desired concentration to the mixture.
In professional photographic developing installations, it has begun to be the case that the photographic processing fluids are no longer supplied in powdered form to be mixed in by the user of the apparatus; instead, us is made of cannisters filled with predetermined amounts of fluid concentrates. The concentrates are mixed together in predetermined ratios and diluted with a predetermined amount of water, in order to obtain a properly diluted processing or regenerating solution. Regenerating solutions are more strongly concentrated than processing solutions, and in dependence upon the processing solution used are subsequently introduced into the processing container. This is done, for example, by means of a dosing pump operative for introducing into the processing tank an amount of regenerating solution corresponding to the surface area of the photographic material being processed.
In the past, the concentrates were all poured into a suitable tank and then diluted with a corresponding amount of water, the solution being vigorously stirred and then pumped into a supply tank. This manner of mixing and diluting chemical concentrates is relatively tedious and creates the possibility of operating mistakes.